Feeding the Fire
by Nightcrawler666
Summary: OCxRufus, LazardxOCxGenesis love triangle :/ Prompted by Darkfire67! Alicia Herzen is employed as the first ever SOLDIER infirmary nurse, and Lazard starts to give her more attention than she's worth. Not to mention she's swiftly reunited with Genesis, an old chilhood friend. Oops. Meanwhile, Rufus has his own conflicts to resolve. Rated M for future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This story is pretty much a commissioned pairing (GenesisxOC) so BIG shoutouts to DarkFire67 for prompting this one. Being a new story, it might be updated less often than my current fanfic (Devil May Cry, anyone?) but it WILL still get attention. With that done, I'd like to say I own nothing but **_**my **_**OC Salvatrice Mantovani (I know, weird name, it's Italian) and the plot. Darkfire67 owns Alicia Herzen and all of her traits. **

**Chapter 1: Bulldog vs. Dynamite**

"Why do we need a new medic anyway? Who killed the last one?" Lazard sighed. His half-brother had definitely let all of his newfound power go to his head. Lazard was _not _enjoying it.

"Hojo, in a sense. He had something to do with it anyway. I just thought that since I've just started to employ people, that you should look at who I propose you have mend your puppets. I've given you 6."

Lazard was slightly taken aback at Rufus' last comment, but calmly took the folders from his desk and strolled out. He made his way down the winding glass-panelled corridors to his office, catching a few elevators to avoid any Turks. Something about those people really unnerved him. He wasn't sure if it was the suits or the reputation. Either way, they were an entity to avoid completely.

As Lazard sat down at his desk, flicking rapidly through the files given to him, he realised that his brother had made it pretty easy for him. There were 2 men, both with no medical history whatsoever, who had only ever worked in corner shops and café's. He slid the papers off his desk and into the bin waiting for them. 2 down, 5 to go. 3 others were quite similar, but he kept one aside because it said that she had military combat. That must mean she's suffered injury, so she could have at least an inkling of what to do.

The young Director soon came to remember his brother mentioned only 6 files. He had 7. He pulled all of them together on his desk (except the 4 in the bin) and noticed a distinct yellow sticky note on one of them. It said:

'_Secretary? For me, naturally. What do you think?'_

Lazard sighed at his brother for the second time and reluctantly opened the folder. He immediately saw why he'd chosen _this one. There was no denying it, she was quite beautiful. But she had Complete Heterochromia. Either Rufus was too infatuated with lust to not notice that one eye was blue and the other was brown or he just didn't care. Lazard had to admit, it was quite disturbing._

_Looking through her records, it was soon revealed to Lazard that she had rather a collection of past occupations. She'd been a dog-walker, library clerk, school teacher, Air hostess and a 911 call answerer. Her name was Salvatrice Mantovani. It soon became apparent that she had quite a collection of people skills. And she liked animals. Joy._

_Her Personal details revealed that she was 21. How has she had so many jobs? If she moves around so much, then how was Rufus supposed to get her to stay? Lazard didn't even want to know the answer to that. He slid her file to one side and carried on his decision-making. He was down to 2 now._

_One was an acclaimed fighter, black-belt trained in karate and a young prodigy in the use of a katana. The one he'd singled out earlier as having a chance of medical history in tending battle wounds. Her name was Alicia Herzen, born in Wutai although not looking of Wutaian origin, then raised in Banora. Strange move. Still, nothing bad had ever come out of Banora. Genesis and Angeal were amazing SOLDIERs, and although never having tasted them, Lazard knew that the apples grown there were delicious. _

_He didn't even bother looking at the other file. Bundling up Rufus' secretary and his new medic into his arms, Lazard decided to make his own way to his half-brother's office. His past encounters with the ShinRa mailing staff had taught him that if he ever wanted something doing, he probably had to do it himself. So he did. Naturally, he'd considered using SOLDIERs to do it, but that would only reinforce Rufus' puppet speculation. _

"_Ah, you're back! What do you think? Come to any conclusions?" His brother smirked._

"_Yes. Your secretary has Complete Heterochromia." Lazard sneered, smugly mocking his brother._

"_Other than that. I see you've come back with considerably less files." Rufus snapped._

"_Alicia Herzen."_

"_She has no medical history."_

"_She has no reason to have any. I've chosen her because she's a fighter. Broken bones, Open sores, she knows what pain is. No doubt she knows how to treat it."_

"_So you've chosen. I see you've got a soft spot for blondes with black-belts and broken bones."_

"_Alicia Herzen. I see you've got a soft spot for brunettes with eye deformities and exotic names."_

"_Salvatrice Mantovani…" Rufus sighed, kicking up his feet on his desk and leaning back in his chair with his hands behind his head. _

"_Indeed I have, brother."_


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Nothing much to say. Just read…? It's a bit short but, hey.**

**Chapter 2: No Such Thing as Rock n' Roll**

Alicia couldn't quite believe it. Out of possibly hundreds of applications they'd picked her, a fighter with no medical experience, to be the first infirmary nurse. Maybe they liked starting small at ShinRa. Maybe not. Frankly, Alicia was pretty intimidated just by the building. It was huge. She felt like there was someone at every window, staring at her, just waiting for her to move so they could report it back to the president.

She laughed at herself. They wouldn't keep a lowlife medic under surveillance. Would they? She couldn't think of a reason, but maybe the president thought that she might steal information. Then she'd need surveillance, so they knew what she'd _do_ with said information. So they could easily take her out with a sniper rifle. Alicia laughed at herself. Again.

The doors were so glossy that Alicia didn't even want to touch them. She used her cuff incase they decided that she couldn't come in until she cleaned her fingerprints off the doors. Nobody else's fingerprints seemed to be there. The desk clerk seemed nice, even sending for an off-duty Turk to escort Alicia to the President's office.

When they arrived, the tall bald Turk hadn't said a word all the way there. Alicia was surprised simply by the sound of his voice when he told her to 'wait'. How specific. Alicia did as she was instructed despite the strange instructions, peeping through the blinds every now and again to see what was going on. There was a woman in there, quite tall and slender, with long curly brown hair that hung loosely over her shoulders. Alicia couldn't see her face.

After a while, the woman exited the room. Big black sunglasses covered a large portion of her face. She stopped outside to wave at Alicia, then wished her good luck before walking swiftly on long legs down the corridor. Alicia wondered if she worked here. It didn't look like it. She was too carefree.

The office Alicia soon found herself in was very executive. Everything was shiny metals and glossy wood. She daren't touch anything, just like at the doors, so once again she rolled her cuffs over her fists. Butterflies were trying to escape her stomach. Alicia felt like throwing up whatever she'd eaten for breakfast. She couldn't remember. The only thing she was focused on was the blonde man sat across from her in his pristine white suit.

Alicia glanced at the clock. 9:15am. She was right on time. How? She'd been waiting for ages! The man shuffled some papers around his desk and looked up at Alicia, still stood in the doorway. He flashed a warm smile, gesturing to a leather armchair. "Please, sit." He offered. His voice was like velvet.

So Alicia sat, all the way through his explanations of how he likes everything punctual and precise, how he likes everything fair and fine. How he's the president of the company. How she got the job. Then how he strongly recommended her to go and see his brother, director of SOLDIER, and get started. She'd never been so overwhelmed.

And then she remembered.

She'd eaten _cornflakes for breakfast._


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: God, this took a while… Anyway, this is:**

**Chapter 3: Harder than Hell**

Salvatrice didn't know how she had, why she had, or where she had gotten herself lost within the 5 elevators, 3 stairwells and 17 corridors between Rufu-… The President's Office and the building's main reception, but she'd managed. She was always getting lost these days. Wherever she was, it was dimly lit, full of huge water tanks and eerily silent except for the bubbling of the strange green-blue liquid. Salvatrice now knew it was a laboratory, at least.

"Hey!" A voice called. Salvatrice span around to face her challenger. A man with a bright shock of red hair was eyeing her up from several feet away. The way he was looking at her, Salvatrice couldn't decide whether it was attraction or caution, Probably both. She took a step back.

"Uh, what are you doing down here?" He asked.

"I'm a little lost, sir." She claimed, taking in the man's suit, however disshelved, as a mark of authority. He turned on one heel and waved a hand over his shoulder, walking briskly out of the lab.

Salvatrice went to follow before feeling something snag on her elbow, then turned around to see her jacket caught on a dusty metal plate. She ripped it off without hesitation and went on to follow the strange red-haired man through the 5 elevators, 3 stairwells and 17 corridors to the building's main reception to pick up her things and get to her desk.

The man she followed made no conversation to Salvatrice. The only words he spoke were to occasional passers-by, when he either came out with a crude one-liner or an overused chat-up line. By the time they were at the front desk, Salvatrice had only just managed to catch up with his long strides and sudden turns. He clearly wasn't used to acting tour guide. She still wondered why he was in the lab. They probably just sent someone down because they saw her on CCTV.

"There you go, lady. So uh, are you new here or something?" He questioned, breaking out a smirk. Salvatrice opened her mouth to talk but someone answered for her.

"Yes, thank-you Reno. She works for me." The President said.

"So does everyone else…" Reno muttered, but skulked away anyway. Salvatrice turned around to face the President, noticing the girl at the desk had braced up in her seat, and gave a warm smile despite feeling the man's cold persona had affected everyone in the room.

"I apologize, Miss Mantovani, for not sending you an escort from my office. I was slightly caught up in more… _Pressing_ matters. Although I'm sure you could forgive me?" He said, smiling all the way. Salvatrice nodded, flustered, and turned to the desk. The woman passed her things over and gave a nod, then Salvatrice made her way to her office. Her office that was situated exactly 5 elevators, 3 stairwells and 17 corridors away.

Alicia had been waiting for some response, any response, from the blonde man across from her for about 10 minutes. That's what it felt like. His less artificial, more wooden desk was far less expensive-looking than his brother's, in great contrast with his suit, which looked a lot more striking and elegant than The President's. She shuffled uncomfortably in her chair.

"Hi, Alicia." He said. That was unexpected.

"Hi." She mirrored. No point being any less than he is. He raised his head to smile at her.

"So, I read through your resumé and found you perfectly capable for the job, although I need to put you on probation before I can officially hire you. This means you'll be on a third of the pay originally offered, although only for about a month, okay?" He explained, still sorting through papers on his desk in the meantime.

Alicia nodded.

"If you just make your way back down to the lobby they'll give you directions to the infirmary down at the SOLDIER dept., you should be OK from thereon." He explained, not looking at her once the whole time.

Once Alicia realised that the director had nothing else to say, she stood up and walked out, taking long, slow strides towards the elevator and down to reception for directions. Despite the in-depth descriptions from Clara, the desk lady, she had no idea where she was going. She simply followed any signs with the word SOLDIER on them.

She got there eventually.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: God, this took a while****…**** and it's amazingly fluffy. And PLEEEAAASE don't go thinking that the OC's are Mary-Sue. Alicia's not even my OC. They're not perfect and not everyone loves them. Pretty soon they'll develop her own little groups of haters. Well… one or two. And they've got to make some pretty hard decisions. Later on. Just a warning. **

**Rage over.**

… **Anyway, this is:**

**Chapter 4: Kicking Around the Future**

"Alicia?"

Alicia turned round through the mess of blonde curly hair and up at a face she hadn't planned on seeing for a long time. Still as lean, though more stern, and she caught her first glimpse of Mako enhanced eyes hard-set into someone's face she never wanted to take that route.  
"Angeal?" She gasped. They stared at each other for a few seconds ,as if unbelieving of each other's existence, then Angeal tackled Alicia into his chest and wrapped his arms tightly around her torso. The impact alone winded her.

"I'm so happy you're well Alicia!" He said in her ear, though his words were muffled by the shoulder he'd buried his face in. Once he'd let go of her, Alicia began to compose herself again before keeling over and clutching her stomach. Angeal let out a deep, hearty laugh and slapped her harshly on the back before leaving past her to her right. Alicia sighed ungratefully in memory of her limited days in Banora; back when people cared about her.

She looked up again at the training room as a tall Wutaian strolled through a door nearby. Alicia could tell in an instant that he was a Turk. He gave a nod and walked immediately away. Alicia was suddenly curious. Why did he nod? How did he know who he was? Or did he? She rushed to the door the man had came out of and looked in the direction he'd left in. Nothing. Alicia sighed and turned back towards the huge window into the training room, looking over the 3rd class SOLDIERs as they fumbled uselessly with their swords. Their mentor seemed strangely familiar. Something about his red trench coat reminded her of home. Alicia removed her gaze and moved swiftly on to her new workplace.

"So, brother." Rufus began, taking a seat in his leather chair and observing his sibling's every move on the other side of his desk. Lazard rose and eyebrow and continued to fiddle idly with a button on his shirt.

"How is your little medic doing?" He asked, smirking as his brother's face turned suddenly attentive. Lazard turned his gaze towards the floor.  
"I haven't heard much from Alicia since she got here, she's not-"  
"First name basis?" Rufus grinned. Lazard frowned at his comment and finished his statement.  
"She's not the most talkative person."

Rufus nodded. " Well, I'm sure she'd talk to Salvatrice." Rufus sighed. Lazard smiled at his brother. _Oh Lord. _Lazard thought; _Totally, completely, and utterly infatuated._

After a long silence only broken by the shuffling of papers, Rufus looked up at his brother again.  
"What are you doing on Friday?" He asked. The spontaneous comment caught Lazard off guard and he stuttered.

"I, uh- Nothing. I think. Why?" He asked, confused and curious at what his brother was trying to persuade him into doing for him. Rufus would always do this. _'Lazard, could you send your SOLDIERs to Wutai for me?' , 'Lazard, could you attend an extremely boring meeting for me while I shuffle books around my desk?', 'Lazard, could you run through that blizzard to get me some Doritos?'._ The Director had just about had enough, so as of now, he was being more cautious. Rufus ran a hand through his hair.

"No reason. Just… wondering." Rufus lied. Lazard rose silently and left the room, shutting the door with a soft 'clink' and walking back to his office. Well, it was an office. It wasn't his. There were a few Turks strolling unnervingly calmly through the corridor as Lazard passed by Alicia's office, and he waited for them to have left before doubling back on himself to knock on her door. Before his hand even met the lacquered plywood the door opened.

Alicia ran straight into Lazard's chest, smacking into him at a moderate speed and throwing papers and folders everywhere. They loose sheets flew in every possible direction and Alicia was quick to apologize as she slipped out of Lazard's arms to round up her work. The Director stood there bewildered before helping to pick up the paper.

Alicia turned to her right to pick a folder up from the ground and a heavy black boot clamped it to the floor. Helplessly, she looked up past the baggy pants and flowing red leather trench coat to another not-too-recognizable friendly face, the same mako blue eyes as everyone else set deep into his face. In the time they'd spent away from each other his features had become sharper, although his smirk remained on his crescent lips as though he were born with it. And even now, 10 years from their last interaction, he was still looking down on her. It seemed as though they'd never be equal. Genesis Rhapsodos. The biggest douchebag Alicia had ever known.


End file.
